Curwensville uses the long ball to drop Ramettes

April 17, 2012

JOHNSONBURG â€“ Megan Barrett and Tiffany Carter both had a 5-RBI performance Tuesday as Curwensville defeated Johnsonburg, 17-1.
Curwensville's Tierra Shope scattered three hits in three innings of work, giving up one run while Taylor Goodman and Carter both hit home runs over the fence in the three-inning victory.
Curwensville put four runs up in the first inning to take the early advantage as the Lady Tide sent nine batters to the plate in the first and second innings, and another 14 batters in the third inning.
With two aboard to start the game against Johnsonburg senior starting pitcher Kiana Myers, Carter stroked a triple to plate Goodman and Madison Peterman for an early 2-0 lead. Later, with the bases loaded, Megan Barrett connected for a 2-out single to bring in Molly Demchak and Cheyenne Pentz for a 4-0 lead before Hannah Bressler hit into a 5-3 groundout.
Johnsonburg's Kassa Kocjancic led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and reached third base after a 2-base error from Sarah Wriglesworth in center field.
Danie Jo Dwyer would go down swinging in the next at-bat but raced down the first base line after a dropped third strike. Dwyer was gunned down at first but Kocjancic sprinted home to beat the throw back to the plate to score what would turn out to be the Ramettes' only run of the game. After Tommi Wildnauer followed with a single down the left field line, Shope caught Myers swinging and Brittany Watts hit a soft popup back to the pitcher's circle to end the inning.
The Lady Tide broke the game open in the top of the second inning as Carter connected with a 3-run home run to bring in Goodman and Peterman for a 7-1 lead. Demchak followed with a bloop single but was gunned down at second base on the next at bat after Pentz reached on an error in the outfield. Wriglesworth would single and Johnsonburg grounded into a fielder's choice before Barrett connected with a triple to bring in Wriglesworth and Abby Johnson for a 9-1 lead.
After Shope retired the side in order, Alexa Marciniak relieved Myers in the pitcher's circle.
"They got a lot of hits off us," said Johnsonburg head varsity softball coach Jenny Lewis. "I changed pitchers since they went through the order in the first two innings, just to give a different look."
The Lady Tide had no problem adjusting as they sent 14 batters to the plate and came away with another eight runs for a 17-1 lead.
Goodman started the inning by popping out to shortstop but Peterman answered back with a single to center field. Carter would walk and Demchak would single to load the bases.
A single from Pentz brought in Peterson for a 10-1 lead. Wriglesworth followed with a triple to score courtesy runners Abby Dugo and Melanie Milliron, and Pentz, who started the game at shortstop for visiting Curwensville.
An error in center field allowed Wriglesworth to cross the plate for a 14-1 lead and a single from Barrett gave her her fifth RBI of the day as Johnson made it a 15-1 ball game. Goodman would later put an exclamation point on the game with a 2-run shot to straightaway center field to bring in Barrett for a 17-1 lead.
Peterson and Carter worked the count to get on base and Demchak was later hit by a pitch to load the bases before Johnsonburg first baseman Katie Galsick made a nice grab in foul territory for the last out. The Lady Tide stranded six runners on base Tuesday.
Raimi Akers led off with a 6-3 groundout and Kocjancic followed with a lineout to short for the first two outs of the bottom of the second inning. Dwyer followed with a grounder to third and beat out the throw for an infield single. Dwyer stole second base before Wildnauer hit into a 5-3 groundout to end the game.
"I'm not sure if we weren't paying attention or what," coach Lewis said. "We are improving in the field, they know where to go and they're moving immediately.
"Before they seemed to be thinking the play was over-- we're getting better on that but we're just not following through on every play."